10 Most Unexpected Jobs People Do

“What are you going to do after school?” This is the question you might have heard people asking several times. Truth is that sometimes life takes us towards uncharted directions and we land up where we might not have even expected to. Owing to today’s recession, many people have chosen a profession which they otherwise might have not. But the fact is, they are succeeding in these unconventional professions and seeing them succeed, more and more people are getting motivated to pursue these different career paths.

There are some unexpected jobs in this list which might shock and intrigue you, but they are real and being unconventional, there is much less competition in them compared to other professions. If you happen to love flying, poker playing or writing, check out these odd jobs we have for you:

Professional Online Poker Player:

12 online poker tables at PokerStars

The game of poker may have a few ups and downs, but professional poker players surpass them all and actually create a good livelihood playing online. So how do they do it?

First of all, to become a successful online poker player one has to understand that this is not a shortcut to easy money. It has to be played strategically as a profession – as it might cause you to lose money as well as gain some. So one has to have an expertise on poker to really succeed. Also you have to be quick decision maker, since while playing more then 12 tournaments at the same time you will have to make one decision per second on average. Note that standard session for online pro are 10+ hours long. Do your math and be prepared for some long lasting mental pressure.

Poker players such as Antonio Esfandiari who have taken this game as a profession always maintain that one has to be 100% sure about the moves of the other players in order to succeed in this game. Also, you need to maintain a great level of patience and calmness; and if you observe these qualities in you in your daily life, only then you might think of becoming a full time poker player as this job is very demanding of your time and attention. Lastly, the biggest advice that online poker players have is that they should know when to quit the game. This will be the make or break decision in their professional poker gaming career.

On an average an online professional poker player makes between $25,000 to $250,000 annually.

2. Freelancer:

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You might have heard about freelancers already. There are many types of freelancers – writers, photographers, web designers and so on. This profession is unlike any other. It asks you to choose your own projects, which is a positive that is not provided by professional jobs, and mostly freelancing is about offering your services as a help to someone who is unable to complete a task on their own.

It is because of this nature of the profession, that you might not always get recognition in this profession. You might have heard about freelance ghostwriters – these people write on the behalf of their clients and they have to sign a non disclosure agreement for not revealing that they worked on this project. Sometimes these are applicable for freelance photography and other professions as well. This is a good path for you if you are a budding journalist, writer or a web designer and you want to have a firsthand experience of the work before claiming your fame.

Freelancing is one of the easiest job options to begin. There are plenty of online websites such as Upwork (previously known as oDesk), Freelancer, Fiverr, etc. However, the more assignments you complete, the more star-rating you have get from your employers, and the better you will be noticed on these platforms. But there are opportunities for the beginners too here.

Different freelance professions have different work rates. With writers being paid the lowest in this profession, the average annual salary of a freelancer ranges within $21,617 – $114,760.

3. YouTube Content Creator:

Image Source – www.telegraph.co.uk

You must have noticed nowadays that there are viral videos created which generate a huge number of views and likes. These videos are sometimes offering you review and sometimes giving you some tips, etc. So, how come these people spend so many hours of their day behind a YouTube video? The answer is simple, they get paid for it. However not initially, but once they reach a large number of views, YouTube hands them out a good amount of payment. So all those viral videos you watch that have managed to attain a million views generate good revenue actually.

If you also want to make a good viral video then you must first understand what causes a video to go viral. The first criterion is that your video should be unique. This is a no brainer – if your audience has already seen what you’re showing, somewhere else, then why would they spend their time on your video page, right?

Once you have created a video that you think has gone viral, you have to ask YouTube for the permission to monetize your content. There are two ways to do that: either you sign up for a YouTube partner program or hold an IVP or Individual Video Partnership. Both are good ways of making profits from your online video. The average money a YouTube video could earn is $265 per month, although some viral videos have also made up to $130,000 a year. But that is not all, top YouTubers earn $3 million+ per year. So next time you watch your favorite channel, do not get envy 😉

4. Dog Surfing Instructor:

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Imagine having taken your pet with you to the beach. You are surfing while the poor fellow is just staring at you at the beach. Wouldn’t you want to make him/her surf as well? As strange as it may sound, people are now taking up jobs as dog surfing instructors.

This job requires you to take up training. There are different sites online where you can register online for this course. In fact, the demand for these jobs is so high that seats almost become full well before the end of the last date.

It is not easy to train a job to surf because each dog has his mood fluctuations and the instructor has to understand them and word accordingly. You must love dogs in general to apply for this post. During your training you will be told what types of boards are to be sued for your dog and how to get on with them. The instructor not only works with the dog but also with its owner. You can earn $30-$100 per hour in this profession.

5. Midwife:

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The need for a midwife is a major one. Hence, choosing this odd job is actually a smart decision. Imagine the number of people today in the world – they are more than 7 billion. From here onward, kids are going to be born at a huge rate and we might even see a population explosion in certain parts of the world. Hence a midwife is what the world needs right now. So, becoming one is, albeit a sign of good judgment.

So how can you become a midwife? In the UK you can register yourself with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Here you will actually be taught how to become a midwife and you can keep practicing then onward. Every three years you will be asked to demonstrate your efficiency. It is one of the most prestigious institutes for practicing midwifery.

Similarly there are different institutes in different parts of the world that teach you how to become a midwife. In Munich there were 16,450 babies born in the year 2014 – this means that Munich, Germany is going through a huge baby boom right now and is in much demand for midwives. If you have a good experience at being a midwife, you will be hired across any part of the world for this job. The average annual salary of a midwife is $83,109 every year.

6. Roadie:

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“They’re the first to come and the last to leave, workin’ for that minimum wage,”said famous pop singer Jackson Browne in his 70s classic song “The Load Out.” People who want to become a roadie are the ones who are usually fascinated with music and being a part of music altogether. However, being is a roadie is not at all easy. Roadies are assigned different tasks such as being a part of technical equipment or security – which has nothing to do with music.

If you really want to become a roadie and think that it is all about the glamour and the life of a vagabond, then we would like to suggest you read the book “Roadie – A true story” by Karl Kuenning. In this book the technical details of the business are given in a very precise manner.

So if you really do want to become a roadie, first decide which part of the roadie job you want. For example, do you want to be a stage manager? Or a guitar technician? Or do you want to be a part of the security? These are the things which you have to jot down and pursue head on. There are different sites which can help you with that.

As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary range of a roadie can lie anywhere between $22,180 and $101,840.

7. Roughneck:

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There is a huge demand for this position. There is something about it that makes one feel like a sailor and there is the masculinity associated with this job that attracts people. But one has to understand that being a roughneck is basically working in the oil rigs – in the middle of the ocean somewhere. One not only needs a steady mind but a very strong physicality for being considered for this job as well.

At first you might be offered an entry level job after which you will be prepared rigorously each day for becoming a roughneck. You can only become a roughneck after intense practice because this job is very demanding of stamina. This means that you might have to spend several weeks on the rig before you get one or two weeks off.

A roughneck job might involve you operating heavy machinery and tending to that mud room. These boost your resume if you have the minimum experience. So if this job attracts you, don’t give it a miss. Average annual salary of a roughneck is $34,680 but may reach up to $51,550.

8. Crop Duster Pilot:

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A crop duster is a person who sprays chemicals onto the crops and they are a part of the aerial application team. This job was not that well-known, but is usually becoming very popular because of its uniqueness.So why one should become a crop duster in the first place? A crop duster has to know which chemicals are good for what type of crops and which are never to be used. They have to know how to fly a plane and must also be open to learn in this industry. A professional crop duster pilot could make anywhere between $60,000 and $100,000 a year.

For becoming a pilot, you have to start from the bottom. This means that you can first join the ground crew, or learn agricultural chemistry to gain an insight. You can also become an aircraft cleaning staff and build good relationships with the farmers in the first place. You can also become involved in the regional level aviation associations where your willingness to learn in the industry is shown. It is a good job profile to start your career with.

9. Crime Scene Cleaner:

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Becoming a crime scene cleaner is not an easy task. You have to understand the technical details and must know how to clean one substance off another. Also, a crime scene cleaner must have sheer attention to detail. Remember the keen observation power of Sherlock Holmes? You have to develop something like that so that nothing in the crime scene gets left out even by mistake.The downside of this job is that any space where a person has died will have a foul smell and things might also get gory at times. But you have to have a weak nose for such smells and must also not faint at the sight of blood. Also, you have to know how to protect yourself – sometimes the crime scenes might have pieces of broken glass or gun powder or other materials. So you have to know exactly how to tackle this stuff. These things require training and to become one, you have to join a training course or assist someone.

A crime scene cleaner has to work with equipment such as high powered exhaust fans, steam cleaners, air masks and powerful chemical cleaners. The crime scene cleaners have to have a certificate in crime scene cleaning before they can commit to this job. The insurance companies often expect the cleaners to clean the damage, stains and also the secondary damage and they will check the work quality before approving your invoice. The work is done in such a way that after the job is completed, one is not able to identify the area of the crime scene. You can make $40,000 per year on average as a crime scene cleaner.

10. Embalmer:

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It is said that the profession of an embalmer is recession-proof. This might be because the job of an embalmer is to prepare the deceased for being buried. For doing this you will need a formal degree in mortuary science and a training in funeral assistance. Many embalmers assist part time in the funeral homes before taking up this job full time.Whether a license is required or not is subject to the place where you want to practice. However, this job not only requires training but also a human touch of patience and empathy, because you have to deal with grieving relatives of the deceased every day.

The profession of an embalmer is expected to grow faster than all other professions in an average by the year 2016. So it is a good time to pursue this career. The annual salary of a professional embalmer is anywhere between $24,134 and $40,828.

Would you considering any of the above mentioned careers professionally? Let us know about your thoughts below.

None of the jobs mentioned here were meant to be pointed out as “stupid”; its just what the title says- unexpected. It is not our intention to hurt anyone by saying what they do for a living is stupid.